Lyophilized biological products

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a homogeneous, lyophilized particulate product of a substance containing at least one biologically active component and a process for its preparation which involves forming a solution or colloidal suspension of the substance, spraying the solution or colloidal suspension into a moving bath of fluorocarbon refrigerant and lyophilizing the resultant frozen droplets. The porous product has a spherical shape, free-flowing properties, and rapid dissolution times.

United States Patent Briggs et al.

LYOPHILIZED BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS Inventors: Anglis R. Briggs, Newark, Del;

Thomas J. Maxwell, Philadelphia, Pa.

E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Del.

Filed: Mar. 12, 1973 Appl. No.: 340,196

Related US. Application Data Continuation-in-part of Ser. Nos. 177,834, Sept. 3, 1971, abandoned, and Ser. No. 63,942, Aug. 14, 1970, Pat. No. 3,721,725.

Assignee:

US. Cl. 424/94; 424/101; 424/106, 424/177; 424/227; 424/242; 424/244; 424/271; 424/280; 424/343 Int. Cl. A61K 37/48; A61K 35/14; A61K 35/40 Field of Search 424/106, 177, 94, 101,

[111 3,928,566 [451 Dec. 23, 1975 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,281,950 11/1966 Kautz. 34/5 3,778,510 12/1973 Blonde ..424/106 Primary Examiner-Sam Rosen 8 Claims, N0 Drawings LYOPI-IILIZED BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No., 1 77,834, now abandoned, filed Sept. 3, 1971, and also of copending application Ser. No..63,942, filed on Aug. 14, 1970, which has issued as US. Pat. No. 3,721,725.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This application relates to a novel lyophilized product and to a process for its preparation. More specificially, it relates to a lyophilized form of a substance having at least one biologically active component.

Biologically active products, including: pharmaceuticals such as vitamins, hormones, tranquilizers and antibiotics; proteins such as enzymes and gelatins; and control products such as plasma or serum are in wide spread use. Despite this fact, there are still many problems with the way in which they are produced and the form in which they are provided. For example, since they are biologically active, they should be provided in a form which will preserve their biological activity for a reasonable time. One method of accomplishing this is to freeze the substance and retain it in its frozen state. This, however, entails the extra handling and equipment necessary to keep the substance frozen at all times.

Alternatively, quantities of the substance have been frozen-in bulk and subsequently lyophilized. The product no longer has to be maintained below freezing, but the slow freezing that takes place during bulk freezing creates other problems. For one thing, slow freezing promotes the development of concentration gradients. When blood serum or plasma is frozen slowly, for example, the cholesterol and triglyceride globules within the serum or plasma are forced to coalesce. These globules, upon dissolution of the lyophilized product in an aqueous solvent, apparently do not redisperse but remain coalesced. The result is a non-uniform product.

Another problem that slow freezing produces is degradation of the various biological constituents. Freezing of enzyme solutions, for example, generally appears to have a degradative effect upon the enzymes. The slow freezing that takes place when bulk freezing is used and the concentration gradients that build up in such products merely increase this degradation. One effort to counteract the enzyme degradation resulting from the slow freezing of a plasma, for example, has been to entirely remove the enzyme and other constituents from the plasma and to weigh in predetermined quantities of these substances to achieve constant level after the product is frozen and dried. The weight of an enzyme, however, does not truly represent the amount of material that should be added. As enzymes are subject to degradation, the true measure of enzyme concentration is activity, for which weight is not an accurate substitution.

Finally, the reconstitution of lyophilized substances by dissolution in water meets with difficulties when the substance is frozen in bulk form. Such reconstitution often requires upwards of to 30 minutes and often results in a lack of clarity. This is a particularly bothersome problem with control products, such as serum or plasma, when subsequent photometric analysis is performed on them. Furthermore, when the products are 2 frozen in bulk form, they are difficult to dispense in any other form but the reconstituted form.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method of overcoming the deficiencies which have been described above by providing a process for making a homogeneous lyophilized product of a substance containing at least one biologically active component which comprises the steps of i a. fonning a solution, or a colloidal suspension, of the substance in a liquid which will freeze and which will also vaporize at a temperature which will not destroy the biological activity of the material; I

b. spraying the solution or colloidal suspension in the form of droplets into a moving bath of boiling fluorocarbon refrigerant having a temperature of below about 20C., whereby the droplets are frozen;

0. subjecting the frozen droplets to a vacuum;

d. thereafter, while maintaining the vacuum, subjecting said droplets to a temperature such that essentially all of the liquid in the droplets sublimes and forms particles from said droplets; and

e. allowingthe particles to come to room temperature and pressure.

The substance is usually injected into the fluorocarbon refrigerant in the form of an aqueous solution, but any solution formed with the liquid which will freeze and which will also vaporize at a temperature which will not destroy the biological activity of the material can be used. For example, organic liquids such as dioxane or mixtures of water with organic liquids such as ethanol can be used. Furthermore, the substance need not be introduced into the fluorocarbon refrigerant in the form of a solution; a colloidal suspension may also be used. For convenience, however, the remaining discussion will be limited to aqueous solutions.

There may be more than one biologically active component in the substance. Serum or plasma, for example, contains a variety of biologically active components. In itself, it will contain enzymes, vitamins, hormones, and under certain circumstances, a variety of antibiotics and even tranquilizers. In the context of this invention, the term biologically active means that the component retains its biological properties. In addition to the biologically active components, the substance may contain other inert materials, such as bulking agents. The present invention, therefore, contemplates the blending of a number of biological products and the blending of biological products with inert fillers. Due to the fact that the blending occurs in solution, and the fact that the particles are a homogeneous representation of the constituents of the solution, the present invention provides a process by which accurate blending of the various ingredients can be produced.

The biologically active component in the substance may be a pharmaceutical, a protein, a control product or any other biologically active material. Pharmaceuticals include: vitamins, such as Vitamin C; hormones, such as testosterone; tranquilizers, such as chlorpromazine; and antibiotics, such as bacitracin, penicillin, polymyxin B and tetracycline. Proteins include gelatins and enzymes, such as maltase. A variety of control products such as serum or plasma, hemoglobin and cholesterol can also be produced.

The solution is sprayed into a moving bath of boiling fluorocarbon refrigerant having a temperature below about 20C. The spraying is conducted from a suffi- 3. cient height above the refrigerant so that droplets of the solution are formed. Spraying the solution into the boiling fluorocarbon refrigerant in the form of droplets achieves rapid freezing. The droplet form presents a large surface area in the cold environment and hence promotes rapid freezing.

The size of the particles after lyophilization is a function of the size of the droplets formed while spraying the solution into the refrigerant. Preferably, the solution is sprayed through 16 to 28 gauge needles. Using a needle smaller than 28 gauge results in particles sufficiently small that electrostatic effects tend to interfere with their ease of handling. Using a needle with a gauge larger than 16 produces sufficiently large particles that they tend to fracture, which may reduce their free flowing and ease of handling. Additionally, product homogeneity is better assured if the particles are not fractured. Concentration gradient caused by freezing will also develop within each particle. Having unfractured particles eliminates the dehomogenizing effects of any concentration gradient that does develop during the freezing step.

The use of fluorocarbon refrigerants is critical. In the first place, the density of fluorocarbon refrigerants is such that the frozen droplets float on the refrigerant. If liquid nitrogen is used, for example, the droplets have a tendency to sink to the bottom of the refrigerant and tend to agglomerate. The fact that the particles float, tends to prevent this and also allows the particle to be removed by a size from the top of the refrigerant.

Also fluorocarbon refrigerants generally have a higher boiling point than other liquid refrigerants, for example, liquid nitrogen. The higher boiling point, being closer to the temperature of the solution droplets, results in less of a vapor phase barrier between the particle and the refrigerant. This permits more rapid freezing of the particles than can be achieved with even colder refrigerants such as liquid nitrogen. This fast freezing also prevents the loss of those constituents of the solution that would otherwise be soluble in the fluorocarbon. Thus, when the product is serum or plasma, for example, negligible loss of cholesterol and triglycerides has been found even though these are organic compounds that are normally soluble in the fluorocarbon. Specifically, with a lower detection limit of 2 to 3 percent, no loss of these substances has been found. Furthermore, the use of the fluorocarbon refrigerant produces particles that are spherical in shape, whereas the use of liquid nitrogen produces less spherical and less uniform sized particles. The use of fluorocarbon refrigerant, therefore, is to be preferred over the use of other colder refrigerants such as liquid nitrogen.

Of the various fluorocarbon refrigerants (which E. l. du Pont de Nemours and Company of Wilmington, Delaware sells under the tradename Freon) dichlorodifluoromethane (Freon 12) represents a preferred example. This refrigerant boils at about C. Imparting a slight motion to the fluorocarbon refrigerant as the solution is sprayed into it will separate the freezing particles and prevent their agglutination.

After freezing, the solidly frozen particles are lyophilized; care being taken to prevent any intervening thawing. Lyophilization is accomplished by subjecting the particles. while frozen, to a vacuum and thereafter supplying sufficient heat to compensate for the heat of sublimation. Since the particles are under a vacuum, the temperature of the environment may be raised to a point which would cause the particles to thaw under atmospheric pressure. At 50 to pt Hg., for example, the particles may be exposed to a shelf temperature of F. for a short while to begin the lyophilization, and then allowed to equilibriate to room temperature to avoid heat denaturation. Sublimation should continue until the particles are dry. Preferably the product temperature should be below about 37F.

After sublimation the particles are brought to room temperature and pressure. Portions of the particles are then removed as convenient.

In addition to promoting rapid freezing, the particulate nature of the product appears to be partially responsible for its fast dissolution time. Its porous nature also contributes to this. Furthermore, the resultant particulate product has a high homogeneity, which permits it to be apportioned by the expendient method of measuring out amounts of the dry product. The low bulk density and free flowing properties of the product permit measuring out by either weight or volumetric means, with particular advantage in the dry volumetric measurement. The homogeneous product of the slow freezing method of the prior art cannot be weighed out after lyophilization, but rather must be volumetrically apportioned prior to freezing.

The operation and advantages of the present invention will now be discussed with reference to serum or plasma. Because serum or plasma is a composite substance which contains a plurality of biologically active components, including enzymes, hormones, vitamins, etc., a detailed discussion of this substance and the way in which each component is preserved will provide the basis for a full understanding of the invention.

Serum and plasma represent the remnants of blood after'the particulate material has been separated from it, often by centrifuging. For plasma, an anticlotting agent, usually sodium citrate, is added to the fresh blood immediately upon its obtention to prevent the precipitation of fibrinogen, which thus forms one constituent of plasma. To obtain serum, no such anticlotting agent is added, fibrinogen precipitates, and it is removed during the separation step along with the cellular material. Because of its close chemical and physical similarity to samples undergoing actual testing, serum or plasma of known content is used as a standard or control in clinical analysis. Preserved serum or plasma can also be used in other applications, such as vaccine, gammaglobulin preparations and special antibodies or antigenic substances.

When produced by the present method, the rapid freezing of the serum or plasma results in greater activity retention and stability of the enzymes and other biological substances within the serum or plasma. The rapid freezing also prevents the build up of large ice crystals and produces an even distribution of biologically active components throughout the frozen particle. The homogeneous size and distribution of crystalline regions of water and hence the small size and even distribution of the pores which form when the particles are lyophilized, also appears to aid in short dissolution.

times when the particles are dissolved. Dissolution times of 20 to 30 seconds have been observed as compared to 20 or 30 minutes of the prior art. Finally, the rapid freezing results in a lyophilized product with greater clarity upon subsequent dissolution.

Prior to freezing, various other ingredients may be added to or taken from the serum or plasma. ln particular, an ingredient may be added to control the pH which the final lyophilized product will obtain when dissolved in a neutral aqueous solvent. This is especially important because lyophilization removes indeterminate amounts of CO and thus raises the pH of the final product when dissolved. The amount of the acidic ingredient to be added is determined by taking small amounts of the serum before its freezing, adding differing quantities of acid to each, freezing and lyophilizing them, dissolving them in water, and determining the pH of each. Using at least three such solutions gives a calibration curve of the amount of acid that must be added to the serum or plasma before freezing to give the desired pH upon dissolution of the final lyophilized product. The final pH should generally lie in the range of 6.8 to 7.4.

The resulting product consists of free flowing spheres having at least 90 percent pores and preferably not exceeding about 1 mm. in diameter. With the exception of CO each of the particles is composed of the constituents of serumor plasma in the proportions in which they existed in the original fluid. Furthermore, because of the fast freezing, each of the spheres generally is homogeneous throughout. The Standard Dissolution Time for the particles, as determined by the test method detailed in Example II, does not exceed 2 minutes.

Because of the invariability of the products composition from particle to particle, the product may be weighed out into portions of a desired size or may be dispersed as a free flowing powder using a volumetric solids dispersion. This weighing of a dry product is more convenient and has less attendant errors than volumetric measurements of liquid.

In one method of apportioning the product by weight, portions having the desired amount of a particular constituent are removed from the mass of lyophilized particles. Since the ratios of most of the various constituents within the serum or plasma remain generally unaltered during the lyophilization procedure, insuring that a portion withdrawn from the mass contains a predetermined amount of a particular constituent generally insures that that portion will contain specific amounts of most of the other constituents of the serum or plasma. In particular, if the size of the portion is selected so that, upon dissolution in a recommended amount of water, the concentration of a particular constituent will match that in the original serum or plasma, the concentration of the other constituents within the serum or plasma will also be found to be close to that of the original.

Sodium is one constituent that may be used to determine the size of the portions removed. Sodium has the particular benefit that it remains unaffected by lyophilization, and does not deactivate under various conditions as do enzymes. In general, the normal concentration of sodium within serum or plasma is approximately 140 milliequivalents per liter. Thus, portions should be selected that upon dissolution in the proper amount of water, will give sodium concentrations approximating that above, the range of 135 to 143 milliequivalents per liter being acceptable.

A convenient and accurate method for the determination of sodium is flame photometry. A small amount of the lyophilized particles is analyzed for its sodium content per unit weight. These results then determine the weight of the lyophilized particles to be removed in order to give the predetermined amount of sodium within each portion. When abnormal concentrations of 6 constituents are desired, portions having greater or less weight of sodium (or any other particular constituent) can be removed from the mass.

Lyophilization, however, causes the loss of part of the dissolved carbon dioxide within the serum or plasma. This raises the pH of the final product when dissolved in distilled water to-an abnormally high level. Another deleterious result of the loss of CO and its concomitant pH elevation is the loss of constituents that are pH sensitive. One such constituent is glutamic pyruvate transaminase (GPT).

One method to counteract this loss of carbon dioxide would be to add sufficient acid to the serum or plasma solution before freezing to bring this solutions pH up to a predetermined level. The difficulty with this method, however,lies in the fact that the exact amount of carbon dioxide lost upon lyophilization varies from batch to batch of serum. Thus, this method will not result in various batches achieving a uniform pH upon dissolution.

Alternatively, prior to freezing, differing quantities of acid may be added to several aliquots of the serum or plasma. These aliquots, with the added acid, may then be lyophilized (e.g., by conventional techniques), re-

constituted in water, and each aliquot analyzed for its pH. This gives a standard curve'of pH versus quantity of acid added to the original serum or plasma. This curve then shows the correct amount of acid that must be added so that the lyophilized product will have the correct pH. i

A suitable acid to accomplish this purpose is 4N citric acid. Generally, 20 to 23 milliequivalents of acid per liter of serum or plasma results in the final product having the desired pH of 6.8 to 7.4 upon dissolution in distilled water. Additionally, prior to freezing, other ingredients may be added to or subtracted from the serum or plasma solution to give a desired effect in the particular case. In adding the acid, the pH of the solution should not be allowed to drop below approximately 6.0; lower pHs approach the isoelectric point of the proteins within the serum. This would cause the proteins to precipitate out of the solution and deleteriously affect the final results. Generally, however, the amount of CO lost upon lyophilization would not require adding a large enough quantity of acid to cause the pH to drop below 6.0.

EXAMPLE I To three 50 ml. aliquots of fresh serum were added 288 u], 325 p.l, and 350 u] of 4N citric acid. These aliquots were frozen (in bulk) and lyophilized under 100 p. Hg. or less at ambient temperatures. The lyophilized residues from the aliquots were macerated. Five hundred milligrams of each of the three macerated residues upon dissolution in 5 ml. distilled water gave pHs of 7.5, 7.4 and 7.25, respectively, indicating that adding 7.0 ml. of 4N citric acid per liter of serum would result in a pH of 7.25 upon dissolution of the product in distilled water. Accordingly, this amount of citric acid was added to the serum.

The serum was then sprayed from 26 gauge needles at 15 to 20 psi into moving boiling dichlorodifluoromethane refrigerant having a temperature of about 25C.

The frozen droplets were continuously collected with a 80 mesh sieve and placed into ceramic pans to a depth not exceeding 1 inch and subjected to vacuum of about 50 to p. Hg. at an environmental temperature 7 of 120F. at the beginning which is thereafter allowed to equilibriate to room temperature.

Samples of 420, 440 and 493 mg. of the lyophilized particles were reconstituted with ml. of distilled water 8 ally frozen and lyophilized. The resulting cake-like product approximated the shape of the bottom portion of the vial. The weight of lyophilized serum in each A and B vial was 500 i 5 mg. The lyophilized serum in and analyzed for sodium content by flame photometry 5 vial B was macerated or finely comminuted by breaking and were found to contain 124, 131, 140 meq./liter, the cake up with a spatula while in the v1al. V1als A and respectively. The original serum contained 140 meq./- B were stoppered and stored at 4 to C.

liter of sodium. Accordingly 493 mg. portions of the Part C was freeze-sprayed and lyophilized according particles were removed and placed in vials to be reconto the procedure of Example I. The resulting Product C stituted with 5 ml. distilled water. The particles were 10 consisted of spherical, highly porous, free-flowing parrefrigerated at about 5C. until reconstitution. ticles all of which passed through a U.S. Standard One such portion of the lyophilized product was mesh sieve; accordingly, the particles did not exceed reconstituted and analyzed for various constituents. 840 microns (0.84 mm.) in diameter. Portions of Prod- Table I gives the results for tests performed upon the uct C each weighing 500 mg. were introduced into glass original serum (Orig) and the freeze-sprayed serum 15 vials described above, which were then stoppered and of the present invention (ES). The test designation stored at 4 to 10C.

is as follows. Comparative Standard Dissolution Times for Prod- LDH Lactic dehydrogenase ucts A, B, and C were determined according to the PCHE Pseudocholinesterase following procedure. Five-milliliter portions of deion- GPT Glutamic Pyruvate Transaminase 2O ized water (R 1 megohm) at i 2C. were GOT Aspartate Aminotransferase quickly introduced into each of a series of vials from- CPK Creatine Phosphokinase groups A, B and C which had previously been permit- ALK.P Alkaline Phosphatase ted to equilibrate at the same temperature. An auto- T.P. Total Proteins matic pipetting device introduced this water while the BUN Blood Urea Nitrogen 25 dispensing tip of the pipette was held in contact with Most constituents generally lost little, if any, activity the inside wall surface of each vial. Each vial was then through the process. The standard deviations, where quickly stoppered and placed on an electrically driven obtained, were about that for the original serum, being roller mill with the cylindrical axis of the vial horizonbetter in the instances of GPT and CPK, and slightly tal. Elapsed time from introduction of water to placing worse for Glucose. on the mill did not exceed about 5 seconds. The rollers TABLE I CONSTITUENT MEAN STD. DEVIATION N METHOD REF.

Glucose Orig. 93.1 mg/dl L58 5 F. H. Schmidt. Klin. Wschr. 40,

LDH Orig I53 uts. 4.76 4 W. E. C. Wacker et al, New England,

Rs. 127 3.41 J. Med. 255 449 I956) PCHF. Orig 12.32 uts. 0.39 5 E. H. Gal et al, Clin. Chem. Acta,

GPT Orig. [2.8 uts. 2.95 5 H. Bergmeyer et al, Methods of Enz.

ES. 9.2 0.45 Analysis, H. Bergmeyer Ed. pp. 846

853, Academic Press (New York, I965) GOT Orlg 3 L2 uts. 1.92 5 A. J. Karmen, Clin. Invest, 34,

CPK Orig 73.6 uts. 2.96 5 J. W. Hess et al, Amer. J. Clin. Path.

F.S. 56 1.41 50, 89 U968) Al.K.P Orig. 9.4 uts/dl 3.79 5 O. A. Bessey et al, J. Biol. Chem.

Albumin Orig. 4 32 g/dl 0.012 5 B. T. Doumas et al, Clin. Chem. Acta,

F.S. 4 5 g/dl 0.007 31, 87 1971 T.P Orig 7 38 g/dl 0.028 5 G. R. Kingsley, J. Biol. Chem. 131,

F.S 7 20 g/dl 0.038 197 1939) BUN Orig 19 2 uts 0.28 I 5 R. Nadeau, U.S. PAT. No. 3,485,723

F.S. 18.75 m. 0.09

The turbidity increase was measured both for conventional and the present freeze-spray lyophilizations. The particulate product of the freeze-spray method displayed less than 20 percent of the increase in turbidity observed for the product of conventional lyophiliza tion.

EXAMPLE ll of the mill were rotating at a speed designed to rotate the vials at 32 revolutions per minute. To obtain the dissolution rates vials were removed from the mill at selected time intervals. The stopper on each of the vials was quickly removed and a sampling pipette removed a pl. liquid sample which was analyzed for total protein by the colorimetric assay described by H. L. Rosenthal and H. T. Cundiff in CLINICAL CHEMIS- TRY, 2, 394 (1956). Standard Dissolution Times of Products A, B, and C, reported below, were determined from a plot of percent dissolution vs. elapsed time on the roller mill. One-hundred percent (100 percent) dissolution corresponds to an assay of 7 gms. of protein per 100 ml. of blood serum.

Standard Dissolution Product Time, seconds A 1200 i B 1200 C 90 By visual comparison, the solutions obtained by completely reconstituting Products A and B exhibited considerably greater tubidity than did the solution obtained by completely reconstituting Product C.

EXAMPLE III A 25 percent (w/v) solution of bacitracin was prepared in high purity distilled water. This solution was injected into rapidly moving, boiling Freon, at a temperature of 25C., through a 27 gauge needle at 80 psi. The injection rate was 8 ml./min. The needle was maintained at a distance of 25 cm. from the surface of the Freon.

The frozen droplets were collected with a sieve and placed in a Teflon lined stainless steel pan. The frozen droplets were subjected to vacuum of about 20 microns Hg. with the environment at room temperature for a period of hours to carry out sublimation of the water. A plurality of spherical particles was produced. The dry particles were collected and stored in vials at 4C.

EXAMPLE IV A 10 percent (w/v) solution of polymyxin B was prepared in high purity distilled water. This solution was injected into rapidly moving, boiling Freon, at a temperature of 25C., through a 26 gauge needle at 22 psi. The injection rate was 11 ml./min. The needle was maintained at a distance of 10 cm. from the surface .of the Freon.

The frozen droplets were collected with a sieve and placed in a Teflon lined stainless steel pan. The frozen droplets were subjected to vacuum of about microns Hg. with the environment at room temperature for a period of 10 hours to carry out sublimation of the water. A plurality of spherical particles was produced. The dry particles were collected and stored in vials at 4C.

EXAMPLE V A saturated solution of tetracycline was prepared by addition of 50 gm. of tetracycline to 500 ml. of high purity distilled water and mixing the suspension for a period of /2 4 hours. The mixture was filtered to remove the undissolved tetracycline which amounted to about 10 gm. The resultant solution was about 8 percent (w/v) in tetracycline.

The tetracycline solution was injected into rapidly moving, boiling Freon, at a temperature of C., through a 26 gauge needle at psi. The injection rate was 17 ml/min. from a distance of 18 cm. above the surface of the Freon.

The frozen droplets were collected with a sieve and placed in a Telfon lined aluminum pan. The frozen droplets were subjected a vacuum of 10 microns Hg. over a 17 hour period to effect sublimation of the Water. Shelf temperature in the sublimation was 25C. at the beginning of the process and increased to +37C. at 1% hours. The +37C. temperature was maintained a The dry particles were placed in vials and stored at 4C.

EXAMPLE VI 2.5 gm. of chlorpromazine was dissolved in 10 ml. of high purity distilled water. The solution was injected into rapidly moving, boiling Freon, at a temperature of 25C., using a 5 ml. syringe fitted with a 28 gauge needle. The syringe was held 23 cm. above the surface of the Freon and the injection rate maintained at about 5 ml./min.

The frozen droplets of chlorpromazine were collected with a sieve and placed in a Teflon lined stainless steel pan. The frozen droplets were subjected to a vacuum of about 20 microns Hg. with the environment at room temperature for a period of 10 hours to effect sublimation of the water. A plurality of dry particles was produced. The dry particles were collected and stored in vials at 4C.

EXAMPLE VII Eighty ml. of a solution containing 9% of inositol and 18 percent (w/v) of mannitol was mixed with 20 ml. of maltase enzyme. This solution was injected into rapidly moving, boiling Freon at a temperature of -25C., through a 26 gauge needle at 35 psi. The injection rate was 20 ml./min. The needle was maintained at a distance of 18 cm. from the surface of the Freon.

The frozen droplets were collected with a sieve and placed in a Telfon lined stainless steel pan. The frozen droplets were subjected to vacuum of about 20 microns Hg. with the environment at room temperature for a period of 10 hours to carry out sublimation of the water. A plurality of spherical particles was produced. The dry particles were collected and stored in vials at 4C.

EXAMPLE VIII To 250 ml. of a 5 percent (w/v) aqueous solution of sodium monoglutamate, 50 mg. of testosterone was added. This solution was injected into rapidly moving, boiling Freon at a temperature of -25C., through a 26 gauge needle at 10 psi. The injection rate was 10 ml./min. The needle was maintained at a distance of 10 cm. from the surface of the Freon.

The frozen droplets were collected with a sieve and placed in a Telfon lined stainless steel pan. The frozen droplets were subjected to a vacuum of about 20 microns Hg. with the environment at room temperature for a period of 10 hours to carry out sublimation of the water. A plurality of spherical particles was produced. The dry particles were collected and stored in vials at 4C.

EXAMPLE IX A 10 percent (w/v) aqueous solution of Vitamin C containing 10 grams (w/v) of inositol was prepared. This solution was injected into rapidly moving, boiling Freon at a temperature of -25C.,.through a 26 gauge needle at 20 psi. The injection rate was 16 ml./min. The needle was maintained at a distance of 10 cm. from the surface of the Freon.

The frozen droplets were collected with a sieve and placed in a Teflon lined stainless steel pan. The frozen droplets were subjected to a vacuum of about 50 microns Hg. with the environment at room temperature for a period of about 48 hours to carry out sublimation of the water. A plurality of spherical particles was produced.

EXAMPLE X Red blood cells, washed with 0.85 percent sodium chloride, were hemolyzed by freezing and thawing, and then centrifuged to remove debris. The supernatant was injected into rapidly moving, boiling Freon at a temperature of 25C. through a 26 gauge needle maintained at a distance of about 18 cm. from the surface of the Freon. The frozen droplets were collected with a sieve and placed in a Teflon lined stainless steel pan. The frozen droplets were subjected to a vacuum of about 20 microns Hg. with the environment at room temperature for a period of hours to carry out sublimation of water. A plurality of spherical particles was produced. The dry particles were collected and stored in vials at 4C.

EXAMPLE XI A solution was made bydissolving 14 gm. of cholesterol in 60 ml. of 94 percent ethanol containing 2 percent sodium lauryl sulfate at 7590C. A 2% (w/v) aqueous sodium lauryl sulfate solution was prepared. With stirring, 30 ml. of the cholesterol solution were added to 100 ml. of the aqueous sodium lauryl sulfate solution to form a colloidal suspension. This colloidal suspension was injected into rapidly moving, boiling Freon at a temperature of -25C. through a 26 gauge needle at psi. The injection rate was 12 ml./min. The needle was maintained at a distance of 17 cm. on the surface of the Freon.

The frozen droplets were collected with a sieve and placed in a Teflon lined stainless steel pan. The frozen droplets were subjected to a vacuum of about 20 microns Hg. with the environment at room temperature for a period of 20 hours to carry out sublimation of the water. A plurality of spherical particles was produced. The dry particles were collected and stored in vials at 4C.

EXAMPLE XII A 1 percent solution (w/v) of gelatin (USP) was prepared in pure distilled water. The temperature of the solution was 4550C. The solution was injected into rapidly moving boiling Freon, at a temperature of C., through a 24 gauge needle at 100 psi. The injection rate was l0 ml./min. The needle was maintained at a distance of 10 cm. from the surface of the Freon.

The frozen droplets were collected with a sieve and placed in a Teflon lined stainless steel pan. The frozen I droplets were subjected to a vacuum of about 50 microns with the environment at room temperature for a period of about 17 hours to carry out sublimation of the water. A plurality of spherical particles was produced. The dry particles were collected and stored in vials at 4C.

What is claimed is:

i l. A lyophilized product containing at least one biologically active component said product comprising a plurality of uniform sized porous spheres, said product being formed according to a process comprising the steps of:

a. forming a solution or colloidal suspension of a substance containing at least one biologically active material in a liquid which will freeze and which will also vaporize at a temperature which will not destroy the biological activity of said material; spraying said solution or colloidal suspension onto the surface of a moving bath of boiling fluorocarbon refrigerant having a boiling temperature of below about 20C. from a sufficient height above the surface of the moving bath to allow droplet formation before the solution strikes the surface of the moving bath, whereby said droplets are frozen; and

c. lyophilizing said droplets to form a plurality of uniformed sized porous spheres in which the volume of the sphere that is not occupied by pores contains a uniform distribution of said substance containing at least one biologically active material.

2. The product of claim 1 wherein the pores constitute at least about percent of the volume of said spheres.

3. The product of claim 1 wherein said substance comprises a pharmaceutical.

4. The product of claim 1 wherein said substance comprises a pharmaceutical selected from the group consisting of vitamins, hormones, tranquilizers and antibiotics.

5. The product of claim 1 wherein said substance comprises a protein.

6. The product of claim 1 wherein said substance comprises an enzyme.

7. The product of claim 1 wherein said substance comprises a gelatin.

8. The product of claim 1 wherein said substance is selected from the group consisting of serum or plasma. 

1. A LYOPHILIZED PRODUCT CONTAINING AT LEAST ONE BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE COMPONENT SAID PRODUCT COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF UNIFORM SIZED POROUS SPHERES, SAID PRODUCT BEING FORMED ACCORDING TO A PROCESS COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: A. FORMING A SOLUTION OR COLLOIDAL SUSPENSION OF A SUBSTANCE CONTAINING AT LEAST ONE BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE MATERIAL IN A LIQUID WHICH WILL FREEZE AND WHICH WILL ALSO VAPORIZE AT A TEMPERATURE WHICH WILL NOT DESTROY THE BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF SAID MATERIAL; B. SPRAYING SAID SOLUTION OR COLLOIDAL SUSPENSION ONTO THE SURFACE OF A MOVING BATH OF BOILING FLUOROCARBON RERIGERANT HAVING A BOILING TEMPERATURE OF BELOW ABOUT -20*C. FROM A SUFFICIENT HEIGHT ABOVE THE SURFACE OF THE MOVING BATH TO ALLOW DROPLET FORMATION BEFORE THE SOLUTION STRIKES THE SURFACE OF THE MOVING BATH, WHEREBY SAID DROPLETS ARE FROZEN; AND C. LYOPHILIZING SAID DROPLETS TO FORM A PLURALITY OF UNIFORMED SIZED POROUS SPHERES IN WHICH THE VOLUME OF THE SPHERE THAT IS NOT OCCUPIED BY PORES CONTAINS A UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION OF SAID SUBSTANCE CONTAINING AT LEAST ONE BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE MATERIAL.
 2. The product of claim 1 wherein the pores constitute at least about 90 percent of the volume of said spheres.
 3. The product of claim 1 wherein said substance comprises a pharmaceutical.
 4. The product of claim 1 wherein said substance comprises a pharmaceutical selected from the group consisting of vitamins, hormones, tranquilizers and antibiotics.
 5. The product of claim 1 wherein said substance comprises a protein.
 6. The product of claim 1 wherein said substance comprises an enzyme.
 7. The product of claim 1 wherein said substance comprises a gelatin.
 8. The product of claim 1 wherein said substaNce is selected from the group consisting of serum or plasma. 